Mechanisms of Action Archives

Effects of Saccade Induced Retrieval Enhancement on conceptual and perceptual tests of explicit & implicit memory (Brain and Cognition)

Results revealed that saccadic horizontal eye movements enhanced performance in only the conceptual explicit condition.

Flash technique, used during the preparation phase of EMDR therapy to facilitate processing of intense, traumatic memories.

At a neurobiological level, memories recorded during extreme stressful situations cause maximal amygdalar synapses, storing the events.

The slow wave sleep hypothesis tries to explain how EMDR works and is discussed in light of other theories and neurobiological findings.

Study aimed to determine whether symptoms improvement is associated with grey matter density changes of brain structures involved in PTSD.

Are treatment successes in PTSD associated with changes in cortisol secretion, assessed by HPA-axis function, before & after trauma therapy?

Study designed to test whether expectations about the working mechanism of EMDR would alter the memory attenuating effects of eye movements.

An animal model of fear recovery showed that BLS facilitate fear extinction and fear extinction retrieval, can this work in humans too?

This study assessed whether specific eye movement patterns are observed during emotional autobiographical retrieval.

We administered the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) and conducted brain MRI measurements (with Optimized Voxel-Based Morphometry).

How the ability to control for emotional responses is altered in PTSD and it can be restored after EMDR treatment suppressing core symptoms.

It is also possible that EMDR works by engaging similar brain mechanisms as those that underpin rapid eye movement (REM) sleep.